NEW YORK — Major League Baseball's average attendance dropped 6.7 percent this year with the United States in the midst of a global recession.

The 30 teams combined to average 30,350, the commissioner's office said Wednesday, down from 32,528 last year and a record 32,785 in 2007. Part of the drop was due to smaller capacities at two new ballparks in New York.

Total attendance of 73.4 million was baseball's fifth-highest.

Philadelphia (3.6 million) and Boston (3.06 million) set franchise records.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR will move the bulk of its races to earlier start times next season in an effort to create more consistency and to stop the slide in television ratings.NASCAR worked with its three television partners to establish a more consistent start time, and 28 races will be held at an earlier time next season than they were this year.The Daytona 500 will be the first of 20 races that begin at 1 p.m., while West Coast races will begin at 3 p.m. and night races will begin at 7:30 p.m.The one exception will be the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend. That race will maintain its 5:45 p.m. start.